Revered as “The Sound of New York,” Young Guru has mixed 10 of Jay-Z’s albums and officially became Jay-Z’s tour D.J. in 2010. “When we study hip-hop we are actually studying the history of piracy. If we go back and study all piracy, we see that most things that were created in the world are a remix of something else.”
Catch two more clips down bottom.
The other day engineer extraordinaire Young Guru hosted Sounds & Vision: The Art of Sampling with special guests Sean C & LV. Among the many topics discussed (a brief recap can be found here, the two recreated a pair of their most memorable backdrops from Jay-Z’s American Gangster.
Young Guru should know a lot about Jay-Z, what with him being his sometimes-tour DJ and engineer for most of his albums. So he divulged some of these things to Complex, such as his basketball prowess, how LA Reid rushed him into making Kingdome Come and more.
The big homie Young Guru sat down with Complex to speak on Jay-Z’s next solo outing..
Jay-Z is always working on stuff, it’s a concept that I can’t talk about but I’m marveled at how smart this guy is. When he told me the concept, I was like ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ It was just so simple. It’s not a concept album though. It’s not like American Gangster, it’s not a Beatles concept album. It has a concept and a title, and the title and the concept fit him so well that people are going to be like ‘Wow.’
I like certain writers because it takes me 8,000 paragraphs to get my full point across. When somebody can take what I just said and condense it into two sentences and still have the same effectiveness, that’s a good writer. The simplicity of the title and the concept that it conveys is incredible.
I can’t tell you the title, it’s so good it’s like, ‘Oh my god why didn’t I think of that? What made you think of that and why haven’t we done that before?’ It’s just staring us in the face.
Guru also shares his thoughts on the possibility of Watch The Throne 2 and what he’d like to see happen. Check what he had to say here.
While out in the Chi, The Throne performed their new single… not 6, not 7, but 8 damn times. I have a feeling by the time I catch them in Vegas (what up Guru) they will be ready for double digits. Speaking of Guru, he checked into Chicago’s The Morning Riot to talk about the show, his chemistry with Jay-Z and the state of hip hop.
PREVIOUS: The Throne & Nicki Minaj Live At The 2011 Victoria’s Secret Show (Video)
During a Behind The Rhymes sit down, the DJ/engineer/producer extraordinaire shows his appreciate for Statik Selektah’s production (shown above), speaks on a mythical Just Blaze x DOOM album and shares his thoughts on DOOM and Madvillainy 2 (shown after the jump).
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With the re-release of Lincoln Way Nights hitting iTunes yesterday, Stalley and Guru are hard at work on Savage Journey to The American Dream. Revealing on Twitter that they knocked out seven new songs last night.
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At a Red Bull Music Academy event in Madrid, Young Guru and ego trip co-founder Chairman Mao go in great detail about the love of music, record shopping, the key to platinum sound and much more.
Artists need their people. Gimel ‘Young Guru’ Keaton is Jay-Z’s people. When the rap-conquering MC and world-conquering mogul steps into the booth (as he continues to do, despite frequent retirement threats), Young Guru is outside, at the board, making sure Hova sounds good. Since 1999 – a staggering twelve years – this has been the way of things. Along the way, Guru has recorded pretty much every other A-list MCs. Some say he has the Midas touch. Watch as he speaks on doing what you love first and foremost, and a couple tricks of the trade.
Yeah, I can’t wait to start this.
In part 2 of Young Guru’s sit down with Al Lindstrom, he speaks on Cole’s success and Jay-Z and Kanye’s new age marketing strategy.
PREVIOUS: Young Guru: It’s In The Name (Video)
- Talks WTT, working with J. Cole and if Jay Elect missed his moment.
In part one of our interview with Young Guru we talk Roc Nation. First we talk about the creation of Watch The Throne and the part he played, what he worked on with J. Cole, and if Jay Electronica missed his moment. – Al Lindstrom
Last night while I was catching up on some shows Jay Elect put up the above picture on Twitter. Showcasing himself, Young Guru, Just Blaze and his engineer in the studio (seemingly to mix the album). A couple hours later, Guru updates his account and is at a loss of words after hearing the album. So…. it looks like Act II: Patents of Nobilty is really on the horizon! Hip hop fans rejoice.
This @JayElectronica album!!!!!! For the first time I don’t have the words to describe something. Amazing is not strong enough!!!!!
PREVIOUS: Jay Electronica – Act II [Rough Demo]
